Roll-wall



April 9, 1963 A. ELMENDORF ROLL-WALL Filed Oct. '7, 1960 551ml l sQllllllllllll i' INVENToR.

United States Patent O 3,084,403 ROLL-WALL Armin Elmendor, 860 Charleston Road, Palo Alto, Calif. Filed Oct. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 61,145 4 Claims. (Cl. 20-15) This invention relates to an improved wallboard to eliminate joints in wall paneling.

A primary purpose of this invention is to provide a factory-iinished flexible wallboard of Wall width which can be readily handled.

Another purpose is to provide ya Wall surface which does not reveal the joints between the boards of which it is made.

Another purpose is to provide a board -wall or ceiling surface having no visible nails.

Another purpose is to provide an improved factoryfinished wide board which may be rolled onto parallel furring and bonded to the same.

Another purpose is to provide a iwide board, suitable for application to wall or ceiling surfaces, which may be carried through door or window openings in the form o-f a large roll.

Another purpose is to provide a factory-finished board in the form of a large roll which is of suiiicient size to completely cover a wall or ceiling in one piece.

tAnother purpose is to provide an improved method of applying large boards to wall and ceiling surfaces.

Another purpose is to provide a method of making a flexible board which is not readily broken in handling in large sizes.

Another purpose is to prevent fracturing of factoryapplied iinishes resulting from excessive lbending at some places and little bending at other places, a difiiculty associated with some previous efforts at producing a roll wall, as in the product described in Patent No. 2,498,403.

Another purpose is to prevent the formation of disiiguring welts at some of the score lines during handling of the product described in Patent No. 2,498,403.

Other purposes will appear in the ensuing specification, drawings and claims.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE la is a section through three elements of a wallboard formed in accordance with the principles disclosed herein before bending the same,

FIGURE lb is a section similar to FIGURE la showing a modified form,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective View of a Wall framework with the board of this invention being applied thereto,

FIGURE 3a shows a section through three elements of my wallboard after bending the same to the maximum degree as when the board is rolled up for transportation, and

FIGURE 3b is a section similar to FIGURE 3a showing the wallboard of FIGURE 1b after bending.

yOne of the major problems in the use of all wallboards in wall and ceiling construction is to conceal the joints between adjacent boards. These joints are brought about by the fact that it is generaly impractical to manufacture and transport wallboards large enough to completely cover a Whole wall or ceiling in one piece. On account of their size, it is impossible to bring them through door and window openings.

Various methods are in use to conceal the joints between wal'lboards after these have been applied, such as applying a tape over the joint. However, such tapes require beveled board edges to provide a recess for the tape7 which means that such boards can not be used for purposes where a recessed edge is objectionable. Applying rs 1C@l the tape to non-recessed board edges results in an objectionable bulge at the joints. While the product of the present invention is generally composed of several boards 0f commercial size that are bonded or other-Wise fastened together edge-to-edge, it can, nevertheless, be made in a size sufficiently large to cover a .whole wall or a Whole ceiling in one piece thereby eliminating visible joints. All such large boards are very `difficult to transport.

The board of the present invention is iiexible and may be rolled up so that it may be transported through ordinary door and window openings. This invention solves the major problem in the so-called dry-wall construction in which dry gypsum board replaces a plaster wall, namely the problem of exposed joints and nails.

A further advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that no nails need be used to hold the board to the building framework. The board shown herein may be bonded to horizontal framing members thereby cornpletely eliminating exposed nails.

In FIGURES la and lb, which show a cross section through the v/allboard of the present invention, the base material may be a substrate 10 of gypsum having paper faces 11 .and 12. The substrate may also be a iiber board of the insulation board type or any other tber wallboard having a strong paper face. The substrate 10 may also be a 'thick Iveneer faced with strong paper.

The preferred method of scoring the back is to cut channels such as V-grooves 16a or rectangular grooves 1611 4on lthe back side of the board.

The boards are fractured at the score or groove. After the board has been suitably scored, it is bent at each score lline as yover a cylinder having a radius of curvature that is small enough to permit .the resultant roll to be readily transported. A roll one to 'two feet in diameter is easily ,carried through door openings. By bending the board to such a radius of several inches the substrate will usually crack at the grooves or score lines, as indicated at 18, so that the paper face at each score line or fracture becomes a hinge. In other words, the .board is now formed of a plurality of narrow long elements held together by the paper face 12. The core of these elements may be composed `of gypsum or ligno-cellulose iibers or veneer.

If the base material or substrate 10 is a thick veneer, the desired fissures may be introduced by fracturing the veneer as in flexing. In that case the `fissures are numerous and close together and follow the grain of the wood. When the board is bent over a cylinder to bond the thin paper backing to it the iissures open up and the paper 2b spans the fissures. Upon then flattening the board the backing paper is raised at the ssures and forms small ridges. The ridges are also produced if the veneer is scored by wedging it apart with sharp knives that produce parallel grooves.

While the substrate or board 10 is held in the bent condition in the factory, straps 0r strings lor an over-all covering of thin paper 20 such as kraft paper is bonded to the iiat surfaces of the elements, spanning the grooves as shown in FIGURES 3a and 3b. When the board is subsequently flattened thereby closing the fractures, the kraft paper 20 is generally pushed into V-grooves or chan nels 16a and 16b, as shown in FIGURES la and lb, but they may also be bent or folded out in the form of ridges. The useV of a thin paper over the entire back is preferred, and any suitable adhesive may be used to bond the paper to the back. Regardless of whether the substrate is made of gypsum, liber board, or veneer, the paper backing 20 will be the same. It is preferably much thinner than the facing paper 12 so that the folds are more readily formed. 'In one satisfactory construction the face paper is about .020 inch thick and the backing about .005 inch thick. After the scored board has been backed itcan be either flattened out or rolled up for shipment.

It is preferred to apply a finish to the face of the board, thus providing a factory-finished wallboard.

The paper face 1?. may be covered with a finish that is applied in the factory such as paint, or with a strong thin translucent paper or transparent film applied over a colored surface, or with any colored paper, or with a layer of veneer, the gain of the veneer being parallel to the score lines. Each of these finishes permits bending at the score line with the paper 12 acting like a hinge. I have found it even possible to bond mineral granules to the surface and then to bend the paper at the score lines without fracturing it, provided the back is reinforced with a thin flexible backing that spans the grooves and is taut in the bent position. It limits the angle between the elements and so prevents the formation of welts in the paper facing or the score line due to excessive bending.

The component boards are usually four feet wide, and of wall height. They may be bonded together edge-toedge or taped together or held together in any convenient manner to form a large monolithic panel. Any supplementary facing layer added to reinforce the face will cover such joints and conceal the same as if such a layer Were applied to the wall after the separate boards had been installed and bonded together edge-toedge during application to the framing of the building. All joints between adjacent boards are thereby masked. Accordingly, a number of conventional gypsum boards or fiber boards may be secured together edge-to-edge to form the large panel of this invention. A tape applied over the joint between boards may be flattened with ho-t plate pressure in the factory to insure tape concealment, a procedure not possible on the job.

In one type of finish a thin translucent membrane 22 such as a grease-proof paper, having an opacity of between and 60, as determined by a Bausch and Lomb opacimeter, provides a satisfactory covering for paint finishes. The translucent membrane 22 is preferably bonded to the paper facing of the gypsum board, or over the supplementary paper facing applied on fiber wall boards or veneer by an adhesive containing coloring matter. The adhesive layer 24 may be colored to obtain any one of a number of desired interior colors, such as the many pastel shades that are now commonly used in homes. The adhesive may also be free of coloring matter. A colored paper may be used, or the board surface may be painted or veneer may be applied in the factory.

A facing of mineral granules such as small marble chips may be applied over the facing paper by pressing the granules into the paper surface in a hot plate press and bonding them into the pockets so formed with an adhesive. Such a surface may then be ground flat. It contributes greatly to the hardness of boards yof the insulation board type and to their fire resistance, both highly desirable features. Surprisingly, the granules do not come off when the board is bent at the hinges between the board elements.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the application of a roll of my flexible wallboard to horizontal furring. Spaced parallel wood or gypsum board furring strips 26, generally spaced from 12 to 24 inches apart, are applied to the studding or to ceiling joints, Gypsum board furring may be wide enough to cover about half of the wall area. The framing members 25 may be from 12 to 48 inches apart, center to center, and are preferably placed 16 inches apart.

The preferred method of application of my product is to bond the same to the furring with a soft adhesive, such as an adhesive of the polyvinyl acetate type. Surprisingly, the light pressure on the adhesive produced by the board when it is flattened out in application results in a good bond. This pressure results in flattening out of the adn rnoval of these blocks the adhesive takes over entirely.

Good bonding between the points of nailing which may be a foot for more apart, results from the light pressure exerted between the nails by the board in flattening it out.

A roll of my flexible wall board 28 may be positioned near one end of the wall and then unrolled toward the other end, the board being bonded to the furring strips as the unrolling proceeds. It can'thus be seen that an entire wall or ceiling, completely finished in the factory, may be applied to the framework in a matter of minutes,

I have thus provided a flexible wallboard, which may be finished in the factory, and which may be applied as onelarge unit, covering an entire wall or ceiling surface in one piece. It may be brought into a house under construction through door or window openings in the form of a roll, The hinge at each fracture prevents bending beyond a certain angle thereby preventing breakage of the hinge and fracturing of the finish, yet permitting bending into a roll that can be brought through a door opening. The product may be rolled into a convenient size for transportation and may be readily shipped without fear of breakage.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it should be realized that there are many modifications, substitutions and alterations thereto within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

`1. A flexible wallboard having a paper face, the back being grooved along spaced parallel lines, said board being fractured along said grooves so that it is flexible, the fracturesV extending to the lpaper face, a paper backing bonded to said grooved side with loose folds at the groove-s.

l2. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said grooves are channels and the folds extend into the grooves.

3. A method of making a flexible panel having a strong paper face on one side, suitable for application to wall surfaces, including the steps of scoring the side opposite that faced with paper along 'spaced generally parallel lines, bending said panel to fracture it along said score lines, bonding a paper backing to said scored side on the convex surface while it is in the bent position.

4. A method of making a flexible wallboard having a strong paper face on one side including the steps of scoring the side opposite that faced with paper along spaced generally parallel lines, bending said board to fracture it along said score lines, bonding a paper backing to said scored side while said board is bent so that when said board is subsequently flattened said paper backing will be folded at the score lines.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,487,370 Birdsey Mar. 18, 1924 1,569,320 Grifnn Jan. 12, 1926 1,711,471 Curran Apr. 30, 1929 1,753,598 `Buttress Apr. 8, 1930 2,230,309 Reed Feb. 4, 1941 2,240,883 Bischof May 6, 1941 2,255,712 Phillips Sept. 9, 1941 2,440,936 Elmendorf May 4, 1948 2,587,985 Elmendorf Mar. 4, 1952 2,802,522 Collet Aug. 13, 1957 2,804,137 Couse Aug. 27, 1957 

1. A FLEXIBLE WALLBOARD HAVING A PAPER FACE, THE BACK BEING GROOVED ALONG SPACED PARALLEL LINES, SAID BOARD BEING FRACTURED ALONG SAID GROOVES SO THAT IT IS FLEXIBLE, THE FRACTURES EXTENDING TO THE PAPER FACE, A PAPER BACKING 